Process of manufacturing vegetable glue.



UNITED sT TEs "PATENT OFFICE.

VICTOR G. BLOEDE, OF CL'IONSVILLE, IABYLAHD.

PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING VEGETABLE GLUE.

80 Drawing.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VICTOR G. Brenna, a citizen of the United States, residing at Catonsville, in the county of Baltimore and State of Maryland, have invented new and useful Improvements in'the Processes of Manufacturing Vegetable Glue, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in the manufacture of a glue or adhesive from amylaceous or starch bases, and has for its object the production of a vegetable glue in a more concentrated and workable form than can be obtained by any of the existing proc-' esses.

The production of a highly adhesive compound by acting upon starchy matter with caustic alkalis has been known, and in use for many years, but in addition to the great alkalinity of these products, which excludes their use for manypurposes, there isanother and greater ob ectwn, namely, that in order "tion of these products to secure the necessary adhesive qualities the material has to be made and used in the form of an extremely heavy bodied and highly tenacious paste, making the applicaa rather diflicult problem requirlng special machinery and rendering such adhesives unfit for joint and similar wood-work in which a freely flowing composition is required.

In the past manufacturers of vegetable glue of this type have sought to secure, this modification in the body or eonsistencyof the product by the partlal hydrolyzation of the starch, either in the dry or paste form,

/ by the well known method of acting upon 7 -maintaining the fluidity of the product within workable bounds, which result can not be obtained by any of the processes now in use.

I accomplish these results by first acting upon starch with a caustic alkali in the usual.

manner, then neutralizing, or partlyneutral- 12mg, the product thus obtained and then acting upon this material with a starchreducing ferment or enzym'until the desired reduction of consistency has been secured.

There are, as is well known, a number of ferments or enzyms which act uponstarch, very quickly reducing its. body, the best known of these substances being the diastase produced from malt. There are also a number of species of bacillus which produce a similar thinnin effect, and can be advantageously used 1n my process. a To carry out my process I proceed as follows:

In a steam jacketed kettle provided with a powerful mechanical agitator I place one hundred pounds of starch. To this I add one-hundred and fifty (150) pounds water, and agitate the mass of starch and water until a smooth cream or paste is formed, free from clots and lumps. I then add two and a half to three'pounds of caustic soda, previously dissolved in fifty pounds of water, and when all of these materials are well blended I turn on the steam and continue the heat until a clear amber colored. composition is formed, and all the starch has been completely dissolved or jellied.

Up to this point the process is the same as in general use the roduction of the ordinary alkaline vegetalile glue now in extensive use, The composition in the kettle i now partly or wholly neutralized by treatment with a vegetable or mineral acid, and when the temperature of the composition has fallen to say-115 degrees, more or less, I

'work into the mass a ferment or enzym capable of reducing starch.

There are a number of these known to of cold.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Feb. 26, 1918 Application filed October 29, 1917. Serial No. 198,989. I I

science which it is not necessary to name, as

I have found any of the so-called starch reducing substances more or less adapted to use in my process.

It would be impossible to give definite weights or measurements as to the quantity of the ferment or bacillus to be used, as this depends upon both their strength and activity as well as the character of the starch operated upon, and the degree of neutrality and temperature and'finally also the character of the product desired.

If the ferment or bacillus is of proper. strength and character a few ounces diluted 5 has been secured;

, positions with/water will suflice to secure various Where an alkaline or cau'sficcondition-is' stages of liquefaction in a very short tlme;

I prefer to, work with very. dilute solutions and the smallest practicable quantity, and find that on an average I can secure the desired thinning of the material within the short space of thirty minutes. I have found .the best way to operate to be adding a few ounces of the diluted germ or culture to the starch composition, allowing it to act for a few minutes followed by another addition within ten or fifteen minutes, the addition being stopped just as soon as the thinning of theyiscous starchy mass is noted, and continuinp' the action, preferably under constant agitation,vuntil the exact degree of consistency desired in the finished product As the thinning takes placequite' rapidly it is well to stop the operation while the mass is still thicker than is desired when finished.

Just as soon as the desired body or consistency has been reached in the composition -'the further action of the converting agent is stopped by bringing the temperature of the material as rapidly as pomible up to, or near the boiling point, and continuing the heat until all live germs have been destroyed. Other methods are available for stopping the conversion, such as the addition of strong antiseptics, or germ destroyers, but I have found rapid heating the best and sim plest process for this purpose. Y

I have found in practice that a neutral or slightly acid condition is most favorable to the'rapid operation of the germs, but I have also securedvery good, although slower results. by the use of a slightly alkaline starch composition. for instance, one in which the caustic alkali has been-reduced to a cab bonate by the action of carbonic acid.

There appears to be quite a difference in' ness, etc., according to thecharacter of the conversion, that from slightly alkaline comapparently possessing greater stren th than the composition.

There is an alternative method of operating this process, which, especially in unproducts of an acid starch skilled hands, yields very much better and more uniform and reliable results than the process just describei.

This second method consists in removing a port on of the material. in the kettle,after the starch has been cooked with caustic alkali and neutralized. placing it in a suitable converter and acting upon same with the ferment or bacillus in a separate'vessel,

andwhen thinned to the desired degree, and

rapidly as the character of the not objectionable, or is desirable, in thevegetable glue, the caustic product described inthe first step of the operation, I securethe desired thinning of-the heavy viscous mam by adding to it, in such proportions as may be found desirable, a vegetable glue of bodv secured by the action of an enzym 0 1" the action of caustic alkali on starch bases described in the first step of my p or prepare a separate batch and neuh'a ize same before reducing to the desired degree by' the action of the enzym or bacillus, keep- .ing this reduced material in stock and adding same to the caustic starch composition in such quantity as may be necesary to secure thedegree of fluidity desired. It is obvious that by this method any degree of body or viscofi cured in the finished product, and which fluidity can be lowered or increased as m the work to be done with it may require.

The product resulting from my proces is a very distinct; improvement on any form of vegetable glue hitherto known or used, either in wood working, such as, veneer, panel and joint work, or for paper, pasteboard, etc. v It can be made inany desired body, has great adhesive and tensile strength, dries far tougher and more elastic than the indinary alkaline vegetable glue and can be used in the same manner as an ordinary animal glue for many pu that is without requiring special mac inery as is the case with the ordinary vegetable glue as used in woodworking.

In carrying out my proce$I do not confine myself to any particular form of starch, nor to the exact proportion I have given as an example in this specification. Nor do I confine myself to any particular acid in neutralizing,or any gigl f n my! bacillus in converting, a a

I am aware that there is nothing novel or patentable in the process of acting upon starch with a caustic alkali, and I am also aware that the action ofcertain ferments, I enzyms and bacilli in converting and thinning starch has been known for a number 'of 125 years, hence I do not claim any of these processes broadly, but: V

I; claim, v 1. The process herein described for producingia vegetable glue or adhesive of any 18.

can be readily sedegree of body or viscosity desired by first treating the starch base with a caustic alkali, then partially or fully neutralizing the alkali and actingupon the composition so obtained with a ferment, enzym or bacillus capable of reducing starch, until the composition has been reduced to the desired consistency or flaw, substantially as described;

2. The process herein described consisting in preparing an table glue by acting upon the starch. base with a caustic alkali, alkaliand adding to the viscous material so produced a sulficient quantity of a thin vegetable'glue produced by the action of a ferment, enzym or bacillus to reduce the viscous alkaline or neutral vege-' then neutralizing the 7 body to the desired degree of fluidity, substantially as described. J

3. The process herein described consisting in acting upon a starch base with a caustic alkali and reducing the highly viscous alkaline material thus obtained, while in an unneutralized, or partly neutralized condition, to the desired degree of fluidity by the addition of a thin vegetable glue obtained by the action ofa ferment, enzym, or bacillus, upon starch, substantially as described.

VICTOR G. BLOEDE.

Witnesses:

ELMER L. GREENSFELDEB, E. B. WILLIAMS. 

